Bungo

don't know much about the sword but it's interesting to see a completly matching f/k and tsuba. Is the fuchi signed ? milt THE ronin

also my new 2GB mem. card does not fit the old card reader I have plugged to the computer.......... still have to " install " the cd that comes with the D-80, but some pics should be ready in a weeks or so...... my " double trouble " was slightly bent, but the artist Mr. Bowen of the NTHK ( NPO group ) brought over for demonstration corrected the bent a few years ago.............. it was a nerve wrecking experience. The sword looks koto ( according to some advance sword dudes ), signed shinto and shinshinto......... I call it my " sword of all time ". A very " curious " sword and I don't intend to have the mei's removed. Milt THE ronin

that brings to mind my " double trouble "............. one side signed Shinkai, the other side Tadatsune. joint work, you say ? ummmmmmmmmmm, one is shinto smith, the other is shinshinto, what's the chance of they having a time machine ? And it begs the question............... if the gimei was meant to deceive, then why two gimei of different time period ? two negatives equal one positive ? Where's the mathematician of the board, Brian ......you are good in math I recall. milt THE ronin

since our daimyo is traveling to Edo and presumed will be attending the biggest sword show ( and dazzled by the kinko works......hard to be wabi at that place )...........and further since he'll be sending out books, may be he can be persuaded to send the show's catalog along too ( save $ on shipping ) ? milt THE ronin

the kanji " daisho " at upper right corner puzzled me..........now i know why. Seppa dai............. dai the koz + kogai hole make up the kanji..........sho quite ingenious. I recall , as a kid growing up in the East , we used our knuckles to remember those " dai ( 31 days ) and sho ( 30 or less days ) months............ milt THE ronin

god, i am not used to this " love fest "............ anyway we should all collect to our personal taste. Reading " the Lethal Elegance " book, it was pointed out that some experts back then were " dissing " anything later than Momoyama period and that is a little bit too much.................... milt THE ronin

let me stir the pot a little............... $ sign does not necessarily mean " greatness ".............it's whatever turns you on. Old masters and dadaism.....to each it's own. Who's to say which is " better " ? The love of oleeeeeeeeee rusty wabi/sabi iron to near mystical level all started with Akiyama and his followers ( Torigoe et al ). Not here to agrue with the experts but , according to the connoisseurs , it takes a lifetime to appreciate the full meanings of wabi/sabi ( in this case the iron ) and a few years looking at books ain't going to ' cut it '. To me, this smells of " elitism ".......... Of course there's nothing wrong with elitism, just like liberalism. Somehow people are left with an impression that's there's something wrong..............but that's another story. Western collections are often " overweigth " with iron sukashi tsuba ( among a few collections i have personally seen ), is it the same case in Japan ? Or are they( in Japan ) so private that only a few connoiseurs with ' like mind" are shown to ? Anyone ? Milt THE ronin

not absolutely sure but I think this could be one of those re-pro swords ( based on the mei and the way they chisel it ) Milt THE ronin

it came with a cd with all the editing thingie............. just haven't gotten around to installing it yet. Too busy playing with the camera.............10.2 megapixel, the pics are sharp !! Milt THE ronin

6 shows the seppa dai clearly while the other 6 have the kozuka and kogai ana's( which incidentally resembles the kanji sho )........I really don't know what this means............ p.s. the design of some of the tsuba is not very good........ milt THE ronin

I meant mochi milt

twelve months of the year.... each represent a month............. piece of monchi ( or as we say here in the land od the Barbarians....... piece of cake !! ) Milt THE ronin

nothing works since the despot went away for the weekend hunting bushmeats........ here's the link that'll actually work............. http://tinyurl.com/fh4wb milt THE ronin

Kapitan, look at the menuki............... http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-RARE-ORIGI ... ViewItem... milt THE ronin

you know that "its the sword that finds the owner" and that "swords call out to each other." So, while you can run to tsuba, you can't hide Why, you've become the Sisyphus of the bungo world Are you trying to wreck all that now, just as you were getting so close to the top fd that's the biggest load of cow chips............ there's nooooooooooo way this O-kissaki, O-suriage wak I am going to submit to the Chicago shinsa in 2007 will bungo me. If it indeed turns " Bungo ".......then, yes, I give up and will reclaim my position as " president of Bungo appreciation club of North America " Milt THE ronin

check out the book " Lethal Elegance " by Joe Earle of Boston......... page 158, item #99 A most exquisite kozuka with two dried squids by Otsuki Mitsuoki. Almost make you say............ to hell with the rusty ole iron. While you are reading this book, be sure to read the first chapter..........Joe gave some insights as to why some people " prefer " ooooooollllllllddddddddd iron. milt THE ronin

upper right corner says............ daisho tsuba ? doesn't make sense there you already mentioned the year ( also appeared on upper right side )............. so my guess is , like others already mentioned, this is a page of catalog showing what tsuba is available. Milt THE ronin

Ah, maybe I understand your problem. I do not know the latest model such as D80. But I assume that you cannot edit saved pictures with your camera. You can only view enlarged picture on the monitor of the camera, I think. If that is the problem, it is the specification of the product. yes, that's the problem, I can zoom in 4-5 times and able to save, but further zoom in of the already enlarged pic can be done and view BUT not save......... I guess I can do that in the computer ( may be with herr Schiller's photo software ) Milt THE ronin

ummmmmmm, I am not sure the auto/manual shutter has anything to do with it. I am trying to " trim " the pictures I already have saved on the memory card. I saved a few " enlarged " ones but when I tried to further " trim/enlarge" the pics, I can see the further enlarged pic but camera would not allow me to save. That's the problem......... p.s. reading the manual...................arrrrrhhhhhhhh milt

KM, we all know you are not that " royalist " of the Nambokucho period......... but are you " Kunitaro " , the guy that lives in the Netherland but has family in Tokyo ( and have a papered Muramasa )? I bought a few tsuba from the guy before and they are good........just wondering. Milt THE ronin

so the new technoloy makes the micro close up lens obsolete unless you really want very very close up like the detail on the nanako........ Nobody san, since you have the Nikon system. ............have a question for you. I did the zoom in thing and saved the pic..........no problem there. But...... when I want to zoom in further, I can see the pic( really closed up ) on the monitor screen just fine, but the camera would not allow me to save that picture. Do you know why ? Do I have to go to the menu/set up to enable/disable something ? Milt THE ronin

if it's before 1859, then the sheet is mulberry bark paper. milt THE ronin

well, I have good experience with some e-bay sellers............. one who i bought a lot of paintings from in Japan always save me $ on combined shipping, one time he actually refunded my $ ( partial )because the shipping fee he quoted was higher than the actual cost. Also Walberg is fair with his shipping charge. The latest tsuba I bought from him he actually air expressed to me even though he charged for priority mail...........can't complain about that. Milt THE ronin

gang, just got my Nikon D-80 with the 18-200 mm zoom lens. It's freaking complicated but I am starting out with the everything " auto " mode just to get the feel of it. So far I can take very sharp pic of tsuba and then close up on the detail and save the " edited/zoom in " pic ( just like the good ole point and shoot ). Question............. since we can do that zoom in close up editing thingie, what's the need for a separate special macro close up lens ? ideas ? Milt THE ronin

have a O-kissaki O-suriage wak newly polished by Big Mo............ very thin but no core steel showing. From the mune , it's about 2.25 mm throughout. Milt THE ronin